It didn't take too long to form the subjugation party.
Among the remaining knights in Rodenov, except for those guarding Rodenov, all the others were mobilized.
The number of knights alone amounted to hundreds. In addition to that, there was a large military force of around ten thousand soldiers who were going to support them on the Ice Wall.
Furthermore, all ten thousand of these soldiers were experienced in subduing monsters. The intense momentum in their eyes was even stronger than that of ordinary knights.
If they managed to survive until the end of this subjugation, quite a few of them might receive knighthood.
After all, the rewards for military achievements from monster subjugation in Rodenov were substantial.
The departure speech was brief as well. Gathering the massive army of ten thousand soldiers and hundreds of knights, Duke Johannes simply said:
"What grandiose words do you need? Fight. Win. Protect. Of course, those who perform meritorious deeds will receive appropriate rewards."
"Yes!"
"Go."
And so, the subjugation party led by Lucas set off toward the Ice Wall.
* * *
[Physis' POV]
There was a limit to the number of people the teleportation gate could teleport at once, and it couldn't teleport an army as large as ten thousand, so we had no choice but to march from Rodenov to the Ice Wall.
We could have taken the time to teleport the soldiers gradually, but that might have overloaded the teleportation gate, so we ultimately decided on marching.
It was a strong army composed of only strong soldiers anyway, so the road to the Ice Wall did not take too long.
Even when the monsters launched an attack during the march, there wasn't a single casualty, so it was clear how well-prepared the soldiers of Rodenov were for monster subjugation.
Especially Adilun's presence made a significant impact on the march.
While we couldn't use large-scale teleportation due to the number of people, she used various types of magic to make the march of the subjugation party more comfortable.
She made their steps lighter and created warm winds to shield them from the cold.
Not only did she use this magic on several individuals, but the entire subjugation party felt its effects, making their marching speed much faster.
Adilun's terrifying magical skills were impossible to ignore. The praises of the knights continued for her, who showed only slight tiredness even after casting magic on a large scale.
With the increased marching speed, we reached the Ice Wall much earlier than anticipated, almost twice as fast.
In the meantime, the small monsters were naturally subdued as if they were being trampled on by the army.
And of course, there were no casualties.
.
.
.
.
I saw the sight of a gigantic wall. A massive wall that had been standing for hundreds of years to stop the monsters pushing from the north, revealing itself before my eyes.
The Ice Wall, positioned between two mountain ranges in the north of Rodenov, completely controlled the invasion of monsters, protecting both Rodenov and the Empire.
Functioning as a fortress, many soldiers stood guard there every day. The regular stationed forces alone amounted to exactly ten thousand soldiers, and with the mercenaries coming and going, the number reached twenty thousand.
Since a huge army of twenty thousand was stationed there, a city was formed around the Ice Wall, creating a landscape similar to the fortress city of Caltix.
Due to the large entertainment district built to boost the morale of soldiers who always faced extreme situations, there were even some soldiers who welcomed being stationed here.
It was quite a pleasant place as long as the monsters didn't invade. Of course, the training was demanding.
Considering that it was in front of the land of death beyond the north, where monsters frequently emerged, large-scale deployment of troops was permitted, However, in recent years, monster invasions weren't as significant, making them more of a financial burden for Rodenov.
Nevertheless, Rodenov's financial situation wasn't so dire as to stagger from just that much, so it was fortunate if one could call it that.
When we arrived at the Ice Wall, the fortress commander, Aiden Felstadt, greeted us warmly.
"Welcome, Sir Lucas. The Princess, and Sir Physis too."
"It hasn't been that long since we last met, has it?"
"Perhaps for you, but not for these two, right?"
"Well... that's true. Anyway, how is the current situation? It's been about a week since I left, so I assume more monsters have appeared during that time."
"That's right. They keep increasing endlessly. Right now, even 30,000 troops seem insufficient."
"Is that so? The rate of increase is much faster than I expected."
"In my view... It seems like their king has shown up."
"A king, you say?"
"Yes. Other than that, I can't explain the scale of that level. I've been stationed here for nearly a decade, and despite accounting for all the other monster invasions over the years... this is the largest scale I've seen… It's only been 5 years since the top-level monsters gathered an army and invaded. Even then, it was not on such a grand scale."
The moment I heard Aiden's words, I could be sure. The king of the monsters, the demon king, who almost half destroyed the north, had indeed appeared.
Although I thought that the story and reality might differ, it seemed they were following a similar course.
Whether it was fortunate that I had conducted training in preparation for the demon king's appearance, or just knowing that he had emerged would be a bad thing, I couldn't say.
The two knights maintained stern expressions as we discussed our countermeasures.
"So, what do we do? If their numbers are so large, it seems impossible for the subjugation party to directly go out and fight."
"Indeed. We'll have to fight the monsters from atop the fortress walls."
"Alright..."
"But there's one problem... If it's such a massive horde of monsters, there's a possibility they could breach the Ice Wall. Especially if their king personally leads them... I can't even imagine that. Even the highest-ranking monsters alone are so formidable that it's beyond comprehension."
"I remember that time too. It was truly... enormous."
"We can only observe the situation for now. Originally, the plan was for the subjugation party to go out and reduce their numbers a bit before retreating. However, if we do that now, we'll immediately be swept away by the monsters' tidal wave... It's frustrating."
Contrary to my expectations, Adilun, who had been silent, pondered for a moment and then spoke to the two knights.
"Among the monsters, is there a monster individual that sees through the invisible state?"
"You mean invisibility? We haven't tried it, so we're not sure... But if there are monsters that can sense a presence, they'll likely expose the invisibility right away."
"What if we completely erase one's presence as well?"
"...Is that possible?"
"In the past, I used to leave a trace of my presence, but now I can erase it completely. Wait."
At that moment, the figure of Adilun momentarily disappeared in front of all of us. It was invisibility magic. But there was something different from before. When she used invisibility at the social gathering, I definitely caught her presence… …But right now I could catch nothing.
"There is no presence. This…"
When I said that, Adilun immediately dispelled the invisibility.
"Is this enough... for our purposes?"
"How long can you maintain it?"
"For up to ten people, about two hours... can be sustained."
"Wow. Then..."
In an instant, Aiden marveled. Sir Lucas and I nodded in agreement. If she could completely erase the presence of up to ten people for two hours... that meant she could handle a considerable number of high-ranking monsters or even some superior monsters, slipping through their ranks and launching powerful attacks.
Even just the ten knights could handle high-ranking monsters if they fought together, but they always found it difficult to approach them while being protected by superior and intermediate monsters.
But... if we could completely ignore the low-ranking monsters and assassinate just one of them, the monsters would be helpless.
If that were the case, we might be able to significantly diminish the enemy's forces.
Even with the two-hour time constraint... if it was enough to preemptively block the most threatening attacks when the monsters advanced toward the Ice Wall.
Of course, Adilun needed to maintain the magic, so only up to nine knights can move. But with Sir Lucas here and me, even with just nine, we should be able to easily dispatch high-ranking monsters.
"Impressive, Princess Adilun. With this, we can preemptively block powerful attacks coming towards the Ice Wall."
As if the other knights shared the same thoughts as mine, both of them looked at Adilun with admiration.
"When you launch an attack, does invisibility get canceled or not?"
"Of course. That's why I need to accompany them..."
"Isn't it dangerous?"
"Isn't it even more dangerous if high-ranking monsters and the demon king push through the Ice Wall?"
"True..."
"As it's quite challenging, I won't be able to use other magic while maintaining invisibility... However, with other knights present, we should achieve a sufficient effect."
"Then, based on that, how about moving in a direction that focuses on dealing with the higher-ranking monsters?"
"I agree. So, Princess Adilun, when should we start the operation?"
"We don't need to wait long. Let's start from tomorrow."
Upon Aiden's question, Adilun answered.
"Understood."
"I'll choose eight skilled knights for this. Sir Physis, you'll join as well... of course?"
"Yes."
I nodded.